Cerity Partners LLC Buys 23,193 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 23,193 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 275,699 shares worth about $48.9 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.43 versus the $3.02 estimate and revenue of $20.58 billion, both ahead of expectations.
• Analysts remain generally positive on MS, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $205.95, while the company also continued its dividend program with a $1.00 quarterly payout.

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,193 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $48,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to get constructive analyst attention, including recent pieces calling it a strong momentum name and a buy idea for investors. What Makes Morgan Stanley (MS) a Strong Momentum Stock: Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is being seen as a beneficiary of a potential AI IPO wave, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expected to earn underwriting, trading, and advisory fees from offerings such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Forget the AI IPOs. Consider the Banks Bringing Them Public.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also announced a new AI-related move in wealth management, opening its workplace stock-plan platforms to clients’ AI agents, which could deepen client ties and improve efficiency. Morgan Stanley Expands AI Access to Power Workplace Wealth Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion over the medium to long term, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s global wealth-management growth story. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Several Morgan Stanley-linked notes on other companies were mixed recently, including a price-target cut on General Mills and a cautionary underweight stance on Dell, showing the firm is still selective despite the positive MS narrative. Morgan Stanley Cuts General Mills (GIS) Forecast Again Amid Inflation Concerns

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $206.89 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $191.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $128.81 and a twelve month high of $219.16. The company has a market cap of $326.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company's chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm's primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.

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